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Wall Street Responds to Greece Deal; Mexican Drug Lord Escapes; New Book Portraying Atticus Finch; Pro Athlete Body Image. Aired 9:30- 10a ET

Aired July 13, 2015 - 09:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[09:30:00] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Fresh loans, but that's only if Greece can implement serious reform.

And we are watching Wall Street closely this morning after investors woke up to news of that bailout deal. Alison Kosik is at the New York Stock Exchange where trading is now underway.

Good morning, Alison.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

And on the heels of that agreement, expect gains today in U.S. stocks. Not huge gains, but gains nonetheless showing relief that Greece has finally reached an agreement, an agreekment (ph), that's a joke, with its creditors. Greece's financial meltdown, you know, it's one of the reasons we've seen so much volatility in the markets lately. The possibility of Greece tumbling out of the Eurozone has been rattling the markets for weeks because there was so much uncertainty about what it could mean for Europe and the global economy.

You know, when you think about it, Greece is a very small economy, about 2 percent of Europe and about 0.3 percent of the world economy. But, gosh, what drama it's caused. The crisis sparked fears of how the dominos would fall and how that would have affected the general future of the EU.

But all seems much better this morning. Investors are waking up to this -- a deal on the table. And we're seeing the Dow up 84 points in the first minute of trading today.

Carol.

COSTELLO: OK, so far so good. Alison Kosik reporting live for us this morning, thanks so much.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, a Mexican drug lord breaks out of prison. You will not believe how elaborate his escape tunnel was. We'll talk about that, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:35:43] COSTELLO: A notorious drug lord and a masterful escape. Here is the opening to that elaborate tunnel Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman used to escape from a Mexican maximum security prison less than 48 hours ago. The tunnel, one mile long, lined with lightening and ventilation. Described as one of the world's most prolific and violent drug lords, Guzman's multibillion global drug empire stretches globally, supplying much of the marijuana, cocaine, and heroin sold here in the United States. Mexico's president is vowing his capture this morning, but U.S. officials are growing frustrating saying the escape highlights just how deep Guzman's corruption runs.

So let's talk about this. I'm joined by Peter Bensinger. He's a former administrator for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency.

Peter, welcome.

PETER BENSINGER, FORMER DEA ADMINISTRATOR: God morning.

COSTELLO: Good morning. So --

BENSINGER: This is a travesty of justice. A travesty of justice just happened in Mexico.

COSTELLO: Are you surprised by it, though?

BENSINGER: I am shocked and not totally surprised because in Mexico Guzman had escaped in 2001 in a laundry cart. So for 14 years he was on the run. Finally he was captured in February in 2014. And 17 months later, he gets out of prison through an elaborate tunnel. And this didn't happen without people on the inside and on the outside facilitating his escape. It's unacceptable.

COSTELLO: Yes, because -- I mean wouldn't it be impossible? I mean this tunnel would cost, what $5 million or $6 million to build. How can you miss a lux tunnel with a lighting system and a motorcycle rail being built like underneath a shower in a prison?

BENSINGER: Well, the Mexican cartel, Guzman's buddies, had all the money they needed to build the tunnel. They probably had inside information and blueprints as to where this shower was. And for the last several months, they've been making that happen.

There's corruption in Mexico on a high level. I'm glad the president of Mexico spoke about this. But the president of the United States has to weigh in and express his outrage, his anger at this event because Guzman is not the only bad guy that got out of prison. In August in 2013, Rafael Caro Quintero, the murderer of Kiki Camarena, a DEA agent in Guadalajara, Mexico, some 30 years ago, was killed. This murder, Caro Quintero, was released by magistrates over a year and a half ago. And we've got two of the very worst people now escaped or let go from prison in Mexico.

COSTELLO: I -- it's just unimaginable. Just going back to Guzman for just a second, just to demonstrate how vile he really is and how dangerous. At the time he was arrested, and U.S. authorities helped Mexico arrest this guy, right, in -- and at the time --

BENSINGER: Their -- our intelligence -- absolutely. And there are seven different jurisdictions in the United States with indictments against Guzman. And we -- we needed to extradite him from Mexico when he was captured in February of 2014. And Mexican authorities said, we're keeping him here for two or 300 years. He'll never escape. But he had the money and the influence to get out of prison. And I'm not sure he's still in Mexico today.

COSTELLO: Well, going back to this, because I just think this is amazing. At the time he was arrested, authorities said he had seven homes with reinforced steel doors, he had 97 huge guns, two grenade launchers, a rocket launcher, and 43 vehicles. You said he's probably not in Mexico anymore.

BENSINGER: He also --

COSTELLO: Where -- where do you suppose he is then?

BENSINGER: I'm -- I'm -- I'm not sure where he is and I'm not sure anybody knows where he is. But he left this prison at the dark of night, got out, may have had a private plane waiting to take him somewhere. The man has all the money in the world and he's killed thousands of Americans through the heroin, cocaine, marijuana, methamphetamine shipments into the United States. There's got to be a major manhunt going on worldwide for this very, very dangerous, deadly individual.

[09:40:16] COSTELLO: Do you think that, well, U.S. authorities will certainly help in finding him, right?

BENSINGER: U.S. authorities will do everything they can, going through informants, trying to find out from others where he might be. But Guzman has escaped from capture before. When he was last released, it was in 2001 through a laundry cart he escaped from a Mexico prison. I'm hopeful that we'll find him and he'll go to a U.S. prison, but I'm not confident that's going to happen. I think it's a question of investigative skill and a good deal of good luck.

COSTELLO: Yes. Peter Bensinger, thank you so much for joining me this morning. I appreciate it.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, it's been decades since readers first met Atticus Finch in "To Kill a Mockingbird," but they're about to see a whole different side of that lawyer in Harper Lee's new book and a lot of people aren't so happy about that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:45:29] COSTELLO: A major bombshell for "To Kill a Mockingbird" fans everywhere. Atticus Finch, the moral pillar of the literary classic, is a racist. That's the stunning revelation in a book by author Harper Lee called "Go Set a Watchman." The book hits store shelves tomorrow. Finch, of course, famously defended character Tom Robinson, an African-American man falsely accused of raping a white woman.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GREGORY PECK, ACTOR, "TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD": Now, gentleman, in this country our courts are the great levelers. In our courts, all men are created equal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Of course that was actor Gregory Peck who played Finch in the 1962 movie classic. Now, Lee's new book isn't for sale yet, but the twitter verse is already going crazy. Take a look. Quote, "the idea of Atticus Finch being racist is like Spielberg doing a sequel in which ET punches Elliot in the face and steals his lunch money." And this tweet, quote, "my fictional husband since 8th grade is a racist and my entire childhood is a lie, #atticusfinch."

Lee completed "Go Set a Watchman" in the 1950s before writing "To Kill a Mockingbird," but the manuscript wasn't discovered until last years. Among the new details, that Finch attended a Ku Klux Klan meeting and that he denounced desegregation efforts.

So let's talk about this. I'm joined now by Spencer Madrie. He's the owner of Ol' Curiosities & Book Shoppe in Monroeville, Alabama, which also happens to be the hometown of Harper Lee.

Welcome, sir.

SPENCER MADRIE, OWNER, OL' CURIOSITIES & BOOK SHOPPE: Hey. Well, thank you.

COSTELLO: Thank you so much for being with me this morning. So tell me, what -- what has been the reaction in your town?

MADRIE: Everybody seems very excited about the new book. We've had a lot of orders, especially over the past few days. And ever since the book came out, even. So everybody's pretty excited. We've got a lot of events going on this -- this week. So we're just gearing up to that.

COSTELLO: Well, you know, in reading about the book, and, you know, the revelation that Atticus Finch wasn't like the Gregory Peck character in the movie, it disappointed me because you admire that character. He was a pillar. I mean he was everybody's, like, that was the consequences essential father, right, the guy who did things right. I'm just curious, how do you feel about the new Atticus Finch?

MADRIE: I've only heard, you know, from other people. I have not read the reviews and stuff. I'm trying to keep a clear mind to read the whole book for myself. Judging a whole book by the first chapter is a little, you know, it's a little -- I don't know, you can't get the whole -- I don't think you can get the whole book from the first chapter. So we'll have to wait and see what -- what's to come in that. And I want to -- I want to see it from a fresh perspective without all the comments and all the negativity. So --

COSTELLO: OK. I will do the same then. So you've set a good example for me, and I appreciate that. Harper Lee, has anyone spotted her lately?

MADRIE: A couple weeks ago they had a -- they gave her a hardcopy of "Go Set a Watchman" book down -- down at the restaurant down the road, and -- but besides that, I do not think anybody's spotted her out, at least not to my knowledge.

COSTELLO: You know, there's been so much controversy about this book and how it was released and whether it was released with her full permission. What do you think?

MADRIE: I believe until somebody -- somebody's character proves you otherwise that it's easy to jump to conclusions and everything. But I think she wanted to release it. Those pictures of her getting her book and there's been all the controversy, to me, it's been pretty much silenced with the investigators that came and she said she knew what was going on and they -- they told me she was in her right mind. She know -- so, my -- I think all of that's kind of been swept aside and now it's up to us to get to read the book and see if we enjoy it or not and, you -- and not -- not try to judge it based on "To Kill a Mockingbird." This was before that. And this one hasn't been revised to the standard that "To Kill a Mockingbird" was. So I think we've just got to judge it from its own -- as its own individual book and not try to put too much judgment on comparing the two.

[09:50:04] COSTELLO: Good advice. Spencer Madrie, thank you so much for joining me this morning. I appreciate it.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling hits back hard against a Twitter user for body shaming Serena Williams. Up next, we'll talk about the balance over body image among professional athletes with Olympian Amanda Bingson.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Checking some top stories at 54 minutes past.

Massachusetts State Police say they're not ruling out the possibility that a little girl found dead on the beach was killed by a family member. The four-year-old known only as "Baby doe" remains unidentified. Her body was found in a trash bag on an island near Boston last month. Investigators are also trying to figure out how she died, saying there are no clear signs of trauma on her body.

[09:55:09] London's Heathrow Airport says it still expects some delays throughout the day after climate change protesters cut through a fence and chained themselves to the gates on the tarmac. Images posted on Twitter show police apparently using bolt cutters to remove them. The group calling itself "Plane Stupid," get it, "Plane Stupid," opposes the building of a third runway at the airport.

It was an epic tweet heard around the world and it says a lot about how we stereotype even the most fantastic female athlete. Grand slam tennis player Serena Williams. Over the weekend, "Harry Potter" author J.K. Rowling hit back hard against a Twitter user who said Williams was built like a man. Rowling responded and tweeted this, quote, "yes, my husband looks like this in a dress. You're an idiot."

Rowling's smack down comes one day after "The New York Times" published an article talking about this very issue titled, quote, "Tennis' top women balance body image with ambition." In it, one coach says this about a Polish tennis player who weighs about 120 pounds. Quote, "it is our decision to keep her as the smallest player in the top 10 because, first of all, she's a woman and she wants to be a woman."

Tennis player Maria Sharapova is also quoted in that article. She says she always want to be skinnier with less cellulite. Something she says is every girl's wish.

So let's talk about this. Track and field Olympian Amanda Bingson joins me now. She recently graced the cover nude for ESPN's body issue.

Thank you so much for being with me. I so appreciate it.

AMANDA BINGSON, TRACK & FIELD OLYMPIAN: Thank you for having me.

COSTELLO: I'm so glad you're here. So, first of all, I just want to touch on the magazine cover because that was a brave thing to do.

BINGSON: Thank you. Yes, it was -- it was pretty different for me. I never thought I'd be doing something like this. So it was -- it was fun.

COSTELLO: Was it -- was it in some way freeing?

BINGSON: A little bit, yes. I mean, I've always been pretty comfortable with my body, and so -- and growing up in Las Vegas, I've always embraced the nakedness of the body and appreciated it. And so for this to actually be able to come out and be able to do my sport and feel it is just -- it was phenomenal and I had a blast doing it.

COSTELLO: I'm so glad. You're obviously -- you're a strong athlete because you need to be for your particular sport, right?

BINGSON: Yes, ma'am.

COSTELLO: So I just want to get your general impressions of what this guy tweeted J.K. Rowling about Serena Williams.

BINGSON: I think -- it's just shameful, it really is, on how we can't ever be happy for somebody. I mean the Serena slam is just amazing and the amount of power that she generates for her sport and able to win as much as she does is all thanks to her body and her physique and I think that him just trying to break her down is just -- it's just shameful and it's a sad thing.

COSTELLO: It is. You know, then "The New York Times," it came out with that article about body image and it focused on tennis players. Some -- a lot of people tweeted that they didn't think "The New York Times" should have even broached that topic. Do you agree?

BINGSON: I mean, I understand that that's what people want to talk about, and it is an issue nowadays, but I think it's all about how you go about doing it. You know, if we put it in a positive light and celebrate the woman body for what it is, different, then I think it's great. But the way people tend to break it down I think is just -- you know, it just doesn't send the right message. COSTELLO: Well, you know, in my estimation, if you want to win,

especially in the sport of tennis nowadays, you have to be strong, you have to have muscles. And -- and --

BINGSON: Absolutely.

COSTELLO: You know, I'm just curious as to why some women tennis players, or their coaches, wouldn't want to have -- wouldn't want to be strong physically.

BINGSON: I mean, it's all different. I mean we definitely have the most diverse bodies in a country. I mean we have every ethnicity here in America. And even tennis players, they're all from around the world with all different body compositions. And, you know what, if somebody thinks that they're disgusting because they don't weigh 120 pounds, then, you know, that's -- to each his own, really. But I feel like as long as you're happy with yourself and as long as you're successful in what you're doing, then that really shouldn't matter.

COSTELLO: Well, do you feel less feminine because you're strong?

BINGSON: No, absolutely not. I feel more feminine because I'm strong because I can take care of myself and I can handle myself. And I think it's -- it's all about self-confidence and how you perceive yourself because if you're confident and you perceive yourself as feminine and beautiful, then other people will, too.

COSTELLO: Oh, Amanda, I'm your biggest fan now.

BINGSON: Awe.

COSTELLO: Thank you so much for joining me this morning. I so appreciate it. Amanda Bingson, thank you so much.

BINGSON: Thank you.

COSTELLO: The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM starts now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO (voice-over): Happening now in the NEWSROOM, a now or never moment for an Iran nuclear deal.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We're close but we're not there yet.

COSTELLO: Now negotiators are poring over the fine print as today's deadline ticks closer, but Congress says the fight ain't over yet.

[10:00:00] SEN. BOB MENENDEZ (D), NEW JERSEY: What a deal looks like is incredibly important.

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R), MAJORITY LEADER: I think it's going to be a very hard sell for the administration.

COSTELLO: Also, the most powerful drug kingpin on the planet busts out of prison.